NSFs investments in People, Ideas, and Tools work
in concert to support the agencys mission to promote progress in
all aspects of science and engineering research and education.

NSF Budget by Strategic Goal

(Millions of Dollars)

FY 2000
Actual

FY 2001
Estimate

FY 2002
Estimate

People

816.11

888.31

1,002.19

Ideas

1,962.49

2,251.11

2,219.84

Tools

955.44

1,060.95

1,023.69

Administration and Management

189.32

216.03

226.77

Total, NSF

$3,923.36

$4,416.39

$4,472.49

Totals may not add due to rounding.
1Does not include $25.1 million in FY 2000, $121 million in FY 2001, and
$144 million in
FY 2002 from H-1B Nonimmigrant Petitioner Fees.

People

At NSF, integrating research and learning is our highest
priority, and the people involved in our projects represent both the focus
of our investments and the most important outcomes of them. Across its
science, mathematics, engineering, technology (SMET) research and education
programs, NSF provides support for almost 200,000 people, including students,
teachers, researchers, post-doctorates, and trainees. Support for programs
specifically addressing the People goal is slightly more than $1.0 billion
in FY 2002, an increase of 12.8 percent over FY 2001.

A major focus for these activities is the Presidents
Math and Science Parnerships initiative beginning in FY 2002 and funded
at $200 million. This initiative is focused in the Education and Human
Resources (EHR) activity; however, activities that complement this initiative
occur throughout the Foundation.

Overall, the research directorates contribute $306 million
toward the People goal. Moreover, about 40 percent of the funding for
research grants  an amount approaching $900 million in FY 2002 
provides support for researchers and students, including more than 60,000
post-doctorates, trainees, and graduate and undergraduate students.

The People goal  facilitating the creation of a diverse,
internationally competitive and globally-engaged workforce of scientists,
engineers, and well-prepared citizens is NSFs number one priority.
In order to achieve this goal, NSF supports improvement efforts in formal
and informal science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education
at all levels  preK-12, undergraduate, graduate, professional development,
and public science literacy projects that engage people of all ages in
life-long learning. NSF also supports programs that integrate research
and education, such as Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training
(IGERT), Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) and the Faculty
Career Early Development Program (CAREER). In partnership with the research
and education community, state and local education agencies, civic groups,
business and industry, and parents, NSF fosters the invigoration of research-informed
standards-based SMET education at all levels.

NSF is also committed to enhancing diversity in the science
and engineering workforce. The Foundation believes that an increased emphasis
on enhancing the participation of individuals who are members of groups
currently underrepresented in the science and engineering workforce will
not only further scientific progress by promoting diversity of intellectual
thought, but also meet the need for a technically trained workforce.

Ideas

Investments in Ideas support cutting edge research and
education that yield new and important discoveries and promotes the development
of new knowledge and techniques within and across traditional boundaries.
These investments help maintain the nations academic institutions
at the forefront in science and engineering. The results of NSF-funded
projects provide a rich foundation for broad and useful applications of
knowledge and the development of new technologies. Support for Ideas also
promotes the education and training of the next generation of scientists
and engineers by providing them with an opportunity to participate in
discovery-oriented projects.

Funding related to the strategic goal of Ideas totals $2,220
million in FY 2002, a decrease of 1.4 percent from FY 2001. This includes
support for individuals and small groups devoted both to disciplinary
and interdisciplinary research and education. Also included is funding
for centers that provide a platform to address those scientific and engineering
questions and research problems requiring the long-term, coordinated efforts
of teams of scientists and engineers. NSF-funded centers provide an enhanced
environment for broad interdisciplinary education at all levels. Support
for centers totals $325 million in FY 2002.

Tools

Support related to the strategic goal of Tools totals $1,024
million in FY 2002, a 3.5 percent decrease from FY 2001. As the research
issues we face increasingly involve phenomena at or beyond the limits
of our measurement capabilities, many of these research areas can only
be studied through the use of new generations of powerful tools. NSF investments
provide state-of-the-art tools for research and education, such as instrumentation
and equipment, multi-user facilities, digital libraries, research resources,
accelerators, telescopes, research vessels and aircraft, and earthquake
simulators. In addition, resources support large surveys and databases
as well as computation and computing infrastructures for all fields of
science, engineering, and education. Support includes funding for construction,
upgrade, operations, and maintenance of facilities, and for the staff
and support personnel needed to assist scientists and engineers in conducting
research at the facilities.

Support for these unique national facilities is essential
to advancing U.S. research and education and the need is driven predominantly
by research opportunities and priorities. Investments in research facilities
are necessary for scientists and engineers to do world-class research.
NSF-supported facilities also stimulate technological breakthroughs in
instrumentation, and are the site of research and mentoring for many science
and engineering students. Because of their visibility and accomplishments,
these facilities also enhance public awareness of science and the goals
of scientific research through allied outreach activities.

Administration and Management

Administration and Management (A&M) totals $227 million
in FY 2002, an increase of 5.0 percent over FY 2001. This increase of
$10.74 million will provide the resources necessary for management of
the agency. Most of the increase is for the salaries and expenses (S&E)
and Office of the Inspector General (OIG) accounts to provide resources
needed to manage the increased program levels appropriated in FY 2001.

A&M encompasses efforts to adopt advanced information
technologies, enhance customer service, and ensure financial integrity.
These investments are critical to NSFs performance as it faces a
workload that is increasing in quantity and complexity. In addition, A&M
provides the operating funds to support the NSF workforce in implementing
activities to meet all of the agencys strategic goals.

Federal Crosscuts

NSF will continue its active participation in federal crosscut
areas in FY 2002, supporting research and education in, amongst others,
the U.S. Global Change Research Program (totaling $187.30 million) and
High Performance Computing and Communications and Information Technology
Research (totaling $642.61 million).

Math and Science Partnerships Initiative

In FY 2002, NSF requests $200 million to initiate the Presidents
Math and Science Partnerships initiative. The Parnerships initiative is
part of the Presidents initiative No Child Left Behind to strengthen
and reform K-12 education.

We know from national and international studies that today
too many children are being left behind in math and science education,
areas critical to success in an increasingly technological world. Too
few of their teachers have the right preparation for teaching math and
science; too few of their schools provide a rigorous, challenging curriculum;
and, as a result, too few of them take the advanced coursework that leads
to future opportunities. The first two of these failings are indicators
of problems with the capacity of our education system to provide the prerequisites
for learning to high standards that the Math and Science Partnerships
initiative will address.

The Partnerships initiative will provide funds for states
and local school districts to join with institutions of higher education,
particularly with their departments of mathematics, science, and engineering,
to strengthen math and science education. It is designed to mobilize the
mathematicians, scientists, and engineers of higher education to be part
of the solution to K-12 education  to help in raising math and science
standards, providing math and science training for teachers, and creating
innovative ways to reach underserved schools and students. It emphasizes
ensuring that all students have the opportunity to perform to high standards,
using effective, research-based approaches, improving teacher quality,
and insisting on accountability for student performance. One of its key
objectives is to eliminate performance gaps between majority and minority
and disadvantaged students.

As the initiative begins, state and local education agencies
will be in different stages of readiness for partnering with institutions
of higher education, as will the institutions themselves. While many states
have already instituted such partnerships, either with individual institutions
or with state systems, some will be exploring partnerships of this type
for the first time. Implementation of the initiative must recognize these
differences in readiness, allowing state and local education agencies
and their partnering institutions to determine the challenges they face
and to design collaborations that fit their needs.

NSF anticipates two major categories of activity under
the Math and Science Partnerships initiative. Each requires the establishment
or intensification of partnerships, plans for improving math and science
education, and accountability mechanisms. They differ in the nature of
the Parnerships and the location of leadership for the activity.

Infrastructure Partnerships will provide a
framework for states to partner with institutions of higher education
to gauge their current status with respect to math and science education
and to develop and implement plans for improvement. Infrastructure
activities would be expected to be broad in scope and to be aimed
at statewide coordinating functions such as teacher certification
and concomitant teacher education programs, data generating capabilities,
or aligning assessments to high standards. They would also target
areas for more intense activity through other mechanisms.

Action Partnerships will enable partners at
state and local levels to act to improve math and science education
through design and exploration of new models of action and adaptation
of existing models to local circumstances. These awards assume an
intensity of action that requires their control to vest locally, presumably
in a school district or collection of such.

All activities will result in awards made through competitive
processes that use merit review involving a rich mix of mathematicians,
scientists, engineers, state and local education officials, teachers,
educators, and researchers. Proposers will be asked to describe a plan
of action, its importance in meeting the objectives of the Math and Science
Partnerships initiative within the state, the research base that supports
it, and the immediate and longer-term goals to which they are willing
to be held accountable. Reviewers will be asked to give priority to projects
that show the greatest potential for meeting the objectives of the Math
and Science Parnerships initiative, particularly for addressing gaps in
performance between majority and minority and disadvantaged students.

NSF will work with relevant communities to identify areas
of action appropriate for the Math and Science Partnerships, to amplify
the range of potential activities, to explore the types of accountability
that best describe progress, and to identify a research-based set of effective
practices to inform the partnerships. These communities are poised to
act in a number of areas that are critical to success in the Parnerships
initiative, having identified issues and possible mechanisms for action
in areas such as:

improving rigor and alignment of standards, curriculum,
and assessments at
the state, district, and school levels;

leadership and support for professional development
of teachers based on appropriate standards for teacher knowledge and
skills;

improving the preparation of teachers in math and
science content areas as essential to improving student achievement;

development of replicable or adaptable models of systemic
reform for improving math and science achievement; and

improved assessment and use of data, particularly
the ability to disaggregate data by gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic
and educational background.

(Millions of Dollars)

FY 2002 Request

FY 2003

FY 2004

FY 2005

FY 2006

$200

$200

$200

$200

$200

Investments in Selected Priority Areas

The multidisciplinary priority areas for FY 2002 include
Biocomplexity in the Environment, Information Technology Research, Nanoscale
Science and Engineering, and Learning for the 21st Century. These priority
areas are described on the following pages. Many of the activities within
these priority areas are interrelated. Each of these priority areas makes
investments that address all three of NSFs strategic goals.

Biocomplexity in the Environment

The case for increasing emphasis on fundamental science
and engineering-based study of environmental systems derives from a convergence
of two trends: the growing urgency of environmental issues and the realistic
prospect of new scientific and technological capabilities that will significantly
advance our ability to anticipate environmental outcomes and, thus, improve
environmental decision-making.

At the close of the twentieth century, scientists and engineers
were attentive to the profound dependencies between living and geophysical
environmental systems. At the same time, many studies of environments
and ecosystems began to document earthquakes, extinctions, and other phenomena
characterized by abrupt changes, thresholds, and nonlinearities; in mathematical
terms, behavior that is complex. Concurrent with the emergence
of these insights into bio- and geo- sciences, scientists and engineers
also became aware of the extent and pervasiveness of human impacts on
the environment. Human populations doubled within a human life span for
the first time. Observations revealed stratospheric ozone depletion. Changes
in land use resulted in dramatic changes in landscapes, water resources,
and biodiversity. Awareness of the importance of these three characteristics
of natural systemsinterdependency, complexity, expanding human influenceled
to a call for new ways to study, explore, and model environmental processes.

Fortunately, enabled by developments such as real time
sensing techniques, computational and information technologies, and genomics,
scientists began to tackle the intricacies of the interactions among biological,
ecological, physical and earth systems, and to confront the challenges
of forecasting the outcomes of those interactions.

Focusing resources on Biocomplexity in the Environment
will give NSF the capability to respond to the demand for new approaches
to investigating the interactivity of biota and the environment. Investigations
are required to be highly interdisciplinary, consider non-human biota
and/or humans explicitly, and examine challenging systems that have high
potential for exhibiting nonlinear or highly coupled behavior. The term
biocomplexity refers to the dynamic web of often surprising
interrelationships that arise when living things at all levels interact
with their environment. The priority area will result in more complete
understanding of natural processes, of human behaviors and decisions in
the natural world, and ways to use new technology effectively to sustain
life on earth.

Funding for the BE priority area is as follows:

(Millions of Dollars)

FY 2001
Current
Plan

FY 2002
Request

Change

Amount

Percent

Biological Sciences

16.90

16.90

0.00

0.0%

Computer and Information Science and
Engineering

6.10

6.10

0.00

0.0%

Engineering

2.69

3.69

1.00

37.2%

Geosciences

21.18

23.00

1.82

8.6%

Mathematical and Physical Sciences

5.35

5.35

0.00

0.0%

Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences

1.25

1.65

0.40

32.0%

Office of Polar Programs

1.41

1.41

0.00

0.0%

Subtotal, Research and Related Activities

$54.88

$58.10

$3.22

5.9%

Totals may not add due to rounding

Long-term Goals: For the next three years, NSF will
emphasize research and education on the role of Biocomplexity in the
Environment. This priority area is part of investments and accomplishments
within NSFs FY 2002 environmental investment portfolio of over $825
million. The intellectual goals of the effort are to:

synthesize environmental knowledge across fields,
subsystems, time and space;

develop new tools and innovative applications of new
and existing technologies for cross-disciplinary research;

integrate human and societal and ecological factors
into investigations of the physical environment and environmental
engineering and enhance research on decision-making and human environmental
behaviors; and

develop a broad range of infrastructure to support
interdisciplinary environmental activities: collaboratory networks,
information systems, research platforms, international partnerships,
and education activities that enhance and diversify the future environmental
workforce.

Long-term funding for the Biocomplexity in the Environment
priority area is as follows:

(Millions of Dollars)

FY 2000

FY 2001
Current Plan

FY 2001
Request

FY 2003

FY 2004

$50.00

$54.88

$58.10

$70.57

$83.31

FY 2002 Areas of Emphasis: NSF plans to invest $58.10
million in the interdisciplinary BE activities described below.

Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems
 quantitative understanding of the short- and long-term dynamics
of how humans value and influence ecosystem services and natural resources,
including consideration of landscapes and land use and the influences
of uncertainty, resilience and vulnerability on societal institutions.

Coupled Biogeochemical Cycles  the interrelation
of biological, geochemical, geological and physical processes at all
temporal and spatial scales, with particular emphasis on understanding
linkages between cycles (such as the carbon, nitrogen, or water cycle)
and the influence of human and other biotic factors on those cycles.

Genome-Enabled Environmental Sciences and Engineering
 the use of genomic information to understand ecosystem functioning
and the adaptation of organisms to ecological roles. Genome-enabled
environmental research will allow us to study biocomplexity in depth
on historical and global scales.

Instrumentation Development for Environmental Activities
 the development of instrumentation and software that takes
advantage of advances in microelectronics, photonics, telemetry, robotics,
sensing systems, modeling, data mining, and analysis techniques to
bring recent laboratory instrumentation advances to bear on the full
spectrum of environmental biocomplexity questions.

In addition to these primary areas, other focused multidisciplinary
research and education activities will be supported, including:

environmental genomics  emphasis on the functions
of genes in plants and in microbes, particularly microbes adapted
to hostile environments, such as deep subsurface terrestrial, polar,
and submarine habitats;

earth systems studies  establishment of observatories
and study centers that focus on geophysical and biogeochemical processes,
including those at the molecular scale;

environmental informatics  development of modeling,
visualization, data mining, and other methods to integrate, access,
and interpret very large data sets of environmental information; and

social adaptation to hazards  emphasis on predictive
capabilities and response to hurricanes, storms, and upper atmosphere
disturbances, including the study of environmental Arctic change.

In all the topical areas described above, integration of
education, including K-16 levels, is a critical element. Also, special
attention will be paid to the inclusion of modeling and simulation methods
for complex environmental systems and initiation of international collaborations
through establishment of global networks in the major topical areas of
the BE priority area.

Information Technology Research

Information Technology (IT) today has an essential role
in every aspect of science, engineering, medicine, education, and other
societal endeavors. It includes the automated creation and processing
of information, as well as theoretical studies of the nature of information
and the limits of computation. IT is causing far-reaching but little-explored
changes throughout society. NSFs portfolio encompasses all of these
areas. In FY 2000, the NSF Information Technology Research (ITR) program
stressed fundamental research; in the second year, additional applications
in science were added; and in the third year, the program will expand
research in multidisciplinary areas, focusing on fundamental research
at the interfaces between fields and disciplines.

Funding for the ITR priority area is as follows:

(Millions of Dollars)

FY 2001
Current
Plan

FY 2002
Request

Change

Amount

Percent

Biological Sciences

5.45

5.45

0.00

0.0%

Computer and Information
Science and Engineering

155.48

155.48

0.00

0.0%

Engineering

8.17

9.17

1.00

12.2%

Geosciences

10.90

10.90

0.00

0.0%

Mathematical and Physical
Sciences

29.62

29.62

0.00

0.0%

Social, Behavioral and Economic
Sciences

3.82

3.82

0.00

0.0%

Polar Programs

1.09

1.09

0.00

0.0%

Subtotal, Research and Related
Activities

214.53

215.53

1.00

0.5%

Education and Human Resources

0.00

2.00

2.00

N/A

Major Research Equipment

44.90

55.00

10.10

22%

Total, ITR

$259.43

$272.53

$13.10

5.0%

Totals may not add due to rounding

Long-term Goals: By expanding basic research in
interdisciplinary areas, NSF will amplify the benefits of IT in all areas
of science and engineering, and spur progress across the national economy
and society. The Information Technology Research program over the next
three years will involve seven comprehensive and complementary areas:
large-scale networking; high-end computing; high-end computation and infrastructure;
high-confidence software and systems; human-computer interaction and information
management; software design and productivity; and social, economic, and
workforce implications of IT plus IT workforce development.

Long-term funding for the ITR priority area is as follows.

(Millions of Dollars)

FY 2000

FY 2001
Current Plan

FY 2002
Request

FY 2003

FY 2004

$126.00

$259.43

$272.53

$285.00

$297.74

FY 2002 Areas of Emphasis: Investments will emphasize
the following research:

Large-Scale Networking. Approximately $27.54
million will be used to support fundamental research in optical networking,
simulation of network dynamics, fault tolerance and autonomous management
of network resources, wireless networks, and scalability to improve
performance and handling of transient interactions among billions
of networked devices. Additional research networks will protect user
privacy and security of sensitive information. Research will provide
networks that are more stable, reliable, and resistant to failures.
These higher levels of reliability and stability will contribute,
for example, to next-generation air traffic control systems or to
telemedicines potential for remote monitoring, diagnosis, and
care for homebound and isolated citizens.

High-end Computing. Approximately $16.05 million
will explore new computational substrates (such as quantum or DNA
computing), communications, and systems architecture. All of these
must be integrated in parallel and distributed systems, which will
soon involve millions of processors. Advances in photonics, nanodevices,
sensors, actuators, opto-electronics, and smart fabrics make it possible
to provide extremely fast and high-density processing power.

High-end Computation and Infrastructure. About
$116.35 million will enable terascale computational facilities. Cross-disciplinary
collaborations will benefit greatly as research and education in the
following applications are explored:

protein folding, neural modeling, and gene expression,
areas which pose important algorithmic issues and could lead to
a comprehensive model of the human body and its components at
scales from molecules to organs to systems;

interactions between biological and physical components
of ecosystems and pollutants, atmosphere, oceans and soil, requiring
new models and new methods of data management;

meteorological forecasting, requiring new models
and more detailed computations;

oceanographic computations linked to biological
studies of ocean productivity and biodiversity; and

high-end computing tools to accelerate the design
and implementation of next generation manufacturing techniques
such as photonic crystals, optical and electronic switching devices,
sensors and detectors.

High-Confidence Software and Systems. About
$17.53 million will support a new generation of highly reliable and
trustworthy IT systems, including safe, secure, and dependable information
infrastructures and consumer products for an information society.
Examples include:

hardened networks and information systems that
detect and survive attacks;

robust software and system design, shared infrastructure,
and system middleware to detect anomalous events; and

modeling and enforcing stability of software systems
and the actual systems they control from safety-critical automotive
and avionics systems, to implantable devices and advanced prosthetics.

Human-Computer Interaction and Information Management.
About $42.65 million will support research and education on mining
and visualizing large data systems. Improved real-time access to databases
will accelerate progress and aid in policy-making. Research will help
in understanding how to integrate perception, cognition, and computation.
Cognitive interfaces will allow people with severe disabilities to
participate more fully in society. Interactions between medicine,
robotics, and networking offer the hope of designing robotic assistants
for the elderly and disabled.

Software Design and Productivity. Funding of
$33.07 million will focus on developing theory and technology for
large embedded software applications subject to temporal, noise, synchronization
and dependability constraints. The key technology components to be
developed are: integrated modeling techniques, integrated modeling
environments and model-based generators.

Social, Economic and Workforce Implications of
IT and IT Workforce Development. Approximately $19.34 million
will focus on: universal participation in a digital society; information
privacy and intellectual property; the use of technologies for science,
education and work collaboration and learning; and how to cultivate
a diverse and well educated IT workforce.

Nanoscale Science and Engineering

Nanoscale science and engineering encompasses the systematic
organization, characterization, and manipulation of matter at atomic or
molecular levels. Novel materials, devices, and systemson the scale
of nanometersare revolutionizing science, engineering, and technology.
Impossible to visualize,a nanometer (one-billionth of a meter) is to an
inch what an inch is to 400 miles. With the capacity to manipulate matter
at this scale, a revolution has begun in science, engineering, and technology
including individualized pharmaceuticals, new drug delivery systems, more
resilient materials and fabrics, and microscopic computer chips.

Funding for the Nanoscale Science and Engineering priority
area is as follows:

(Millions of Dollars)

FY 2001
Current
Plan

FY 2002
Request

Change

Amount

Percent

Biological Sciences

2.33

2.33

0.00

0.0%

Computer and Information Science and
Engineering

2.20

6.20

4.00

181.8%

Engineering

55.27

70.30

15.03

27.2%

Geosciences

6.80

6.80

0.00

0.0%

Mathematical and Physical Sciences

83.08

88.08

5.00

6.0%

Total, Nanoscale Science and Engineering

$149.68

$173.71

$24.03

16.1%

Totals may not add due to rounding

The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) began in FY
2001 (http://www.nano.gov). NSF is emphasizing long-term, fundamental
research aimed at discovering novel phenomena, processes, and tools; addressing
NNI Grand Challenges; supporting new interdisciplinary centers and networks
of excellence including shared user facilities; supporting research infrastructure;
and addressing research and educational activities on the societal implications
of advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology.

NSF has been a pioneer among federal agencies in fostering
the development of nanoscale science and technology. In FY 2001, NSF is
investing $149.68 million in a wide range of research and education activities
in nanoscale science and technology, including approximately 15 nanotechnology
research centers, which focus on electronics, biology, and optoelectronics.

This investment will be expanded in FY 2002 to develop
and strengthen critical fields and to establish the science and engineering
infrastructure and workforce needed to exploit the opportunities presented
by these new capabilities. Support will be focused on interdisciplinary
research and education teams, national science and engineering centers,
exploratory research and education projects, and education and training.

Long-term objectives include laying a foundation
of fundamental research for NNI Grand Challenges; ensuring that U.S. institutions
will have access to a full range of nano-facilities; enabling access to
nanotechnology education for students in U.S. colleges and universities;
and catalyzing the creation of new commercial markets that depend on three-dimensional
nanostructures. This should result in the development of completely new
technologies that contribute to improvements in health, advanced agriculture,
conservation of materials and energy, and sustainability of the environment.

Long-term funding for the Nanoscale Science and Engineering
priority area is as follows:

Fundamental Research and Education. The FY
2002 request includes $107.72 million for fundamental research and
education, with special emphasis on:

Biosystems at the Nanoscale  Approximately
$19.0 million to support study of biologically-based or inspired
systems that exhibit novel properties and potential applications.
Potential applications include improved drug delivery, biocompatible
nanostructured materials for implantation, and nanoscale sensory
systems, such as miniature sensors for early detection of cancer.

Nanoscale Structures, Novel Phenomena and Quantum
Control  Approximately $36.72 million to create new
materials and functional nanoscale structures and to exploit their
novel properties. Potential applications include quantum computing
and new devices and processes for advanced communications and
information technologies.

Device and System Architecture  Approximately
$25.50 million to develop new concepts to understand interactions
among nanoscale devices in complex systems, including the physical,
chemical, and biological interactions between nanostructures and
device components.

Nanoscale Processes in the Environment 
Approximately $9.50 million to support studies on nanoscale physical
and chemical processes related to the trapping and release of
nutrients and contaminants in the natural environment. Potential
benefits include artificial photosynthesis for clean energy and
pollution control.

Multi-scale, Multi-phenomena Theory, Modeling
and Simulation at the Nanoscale  Approximately $17.0
million to support theory, modeling, large-scale computer simulation
and new design tools and infrastructure in order to understand,
control and accelerate development in new nanoscale regimes and
systems.

Centers and Networks of Excellence. Approximately
$29.39 million will provide support for four new research and education
centers, a multidisciplinary, multi-sectoral network for modeling
and simulation at the nanoscale. These funds will support the nanofabrication
user facilities to come on line in FY 2002.

Research Infrastructure. Approximately $19.90
million will support instrumentation and facilities for improved measurements,
processing and manipulation at nanoscale, and equipment and software
for modeling and simulation. University-industry-national laboratory
and international collaborations will be encouraged, particularly
for expensive instrumentation and facilities.

Societal and Educational Implications of Science
and Technology Advances. Approximately $8.80 million will support
student assistantships, fellowships and traineeships, curriculum development
on nanoscience and engineering and development of new teaching tools.
The impact of nanotechnology on society will be analyzed from legal,
ethical, social, and economic perspectives. The development and use
of nanoscale technologies is likely to change the design, production
and use of many goods and services, ranging from vaccines to computers
to automobile tires.Societal and Educational Implications of Science
and Technology Advances. Approximately $8.80 million will support
student assistantships, fellowships and traineeships, curriculum development
on nanoscience and engineering and development of new teaching tools.
The impact of nanotechnology on society will be analyzed from legal,
ethical, social, and economic perspectives. The development and use
of nanoscale technologies is likely to change the design, production
and use of many goods and services, ranging from vaccines to computers
to automobile tires.

Learning for the 21st Century

Learning for the 21st Century addresses two interrelated
challenges that are essential to meeting twenty-first century workforce
challenges:

understanding how people learn as individuals, and

transferring that knowledge for use in collective learning
environments and the development of tools for learning and instruction.

Through this priority area, NSF will continue to encourage
the science and education communities to better understand learning in
disciplinary contexts and to act on that understanding by developing materials,
courses, and curricula implemented, such as through digital libraries
and other web-based mechanisms. Communities will also develop field-specific
methods for bridging levels of education and for maintaining lifelong
learning capabilities.

Funding for Learning for the 21st Century priority area
is as follows:

(Millions of Dollars)

FY 2001
Current
Plan

FY 2002
Request

Change

Amount

Percent

Biological Sciences

1.70

1.70

0.00

0.0%

Computer and Information
Science and Engineering

1.15

1.15

0.00

0.0%

Engineering

2.70

3.40

0.70

25.9%

Geosciences

2.45

2.45

0.00

0.0%

Mathematical and Physical
Sciences

3.00

4.00

1.00

33.3%

Social, Behavioral and Economic
Sciences

5.40

5.40

0.00

0.0%

Polar Programs

1.10

1.10

0.00

0.0%

Subtotal, Research and Related
Activities

17.50

19.20

1.70

9.7%

Education and Human Resources

103.96

106.31

2.35

2.3%

Total, Learning for the 21st
Century

$121.46

$125.51

$4.05

3.3%

Totals may not add due to rounding.

Long-term Goals: The long-term goals of Learning
for the 21st Century priority area are:

to generate the knowledge, people, and tools needed
to develop a twenty-first century workforce that is second to none
in its ability to use, adapt, and create scientific, mathematical,
engineering, and technological (SMET) concepts in the workplace; and

to develop a SMET workforce that fully reflects the
strength of America's diversity.

While emphasizing the long-term objectives, the priority
area also includes elements that address the needs of an American workforce
able to make an immediate transition to a more technologically-oriented
workplace.

Long-term funding for the Learning for the 21st Century
priority area.

(Millions of Dollars)

FY 2001
Current Plan

FY 2002
Request

FY 2003

FY 2004

FY 2005

$121.46

$125.51

$137.98

$150.72

$176.78

FY 2002 Areas of Emphasis: Three elements form the underlying
core of this priority area.

Multidisciplinary learning research involves
cross-cutting research in areas such as design of learning environments,
human-computer interactions, cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience,
computational linguistics, child development, sociology, and complex
educational systems. Activities in this element include the Interagency
Education Research Initiative (IERI), the newly revamped Research
on Learning and Education (ROLE) program, and other research activities
related to child learning and cognitive development.

Research, development, and testing of IT-enabled
tools for learning will facilitate and enhance learning opportunities.
New technologies offer the possibility of providing truly learner-centered,
independent learning environments for individuals or teams at any
convenient place and time. Two sets of activities currently comprise
this element: the National SMET Education Digital Library (NSDL),
a prototype IT-based tool designed to increase the quality, quantity,
and comprehensiveness of Internet-based education resources, and related
development of discipline-focused resources, such as the Digital Library
for Earth System Education (DLESE).

Activities that enable and strengthen the SMET
learning continuum provide a stronger linkage between formal and
informal education. This is critical to developing and maintaining
a highly skilled workforce. Preparing the workforce currently takes
place largely in the context of formal education systems with well-defined
transition points across levels of education. In contrast, developing
the workforce takes place through a combination of on-the-job training,
established training opportunities and/or formal education. Investments
in this core element recognize that learning happens continuously
and provide mechanisms to bridge gaps caused by organization of learning
into discrete systems of formal and informal education. The Graduate
Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) program, which provides
graduate students with exposure to the opportunities and challenges
of K-12 teaching, while bringing K-12 students and teachers together
with active researchers, is an example of activities in this element.

NSF's Centers for Learning and Teaching (CLTs) provide
lifelong learning opportunities for the nation's instructional workforce.
CLTs involve partnerships among universities, school districts, state
education agencies, informal science education institutions, as well as
business and industry.

The Math and Science Partnerships Initiative also reflects
many of the goals of Learning for the 21st Century. The Partnerships initiative
emphasizes ensuring that all students have the opportunity to perform
to high standards by using effective, research-based approaches, improving
teacher quality, and insisting on accountability for student performance.

Children's Research Initiative (CRI)

Support for the Children's Research Initiative (CRI) will
be maintained at $5.0 million annually for the period from FY 2001 through
FY 2005. The CRI focuses on theory-driven, policy-related research on
children, learning, and the influence of families and communities on child
development. The CRI also will support research to enhance literacy and
improve math and science skills. Support will be provided to centers,
teams, and individual investigators to conduct research and related activities
in accordance with community-based planning and development efforts. Specifically,
the FY 2001 CRI announcement invited proposals in four general categories:

research centers to conduct multidisciplinary, integrative
research;

incubation or planning grants so that research groups
can engage in planning that will lead to collaborative, large-scale,
center research projects;

workshops and small conferences that will help build
capacity for integrative, multidisciplinary research; and

standard research proposals from individual investigators
addressing CRI research issues.

CRI competitions will continue with provision made for
limited support for incubation and planning activities, as well as workshops
and conferences focused on stimulating research and communication across
communities. Funding also will be provided for smaller-scale, individual
investigator-conducted research projects. In the future, it is anticipated
that a larger share of CRI funding will go to multidisciplinary, integrated
research centers offering opportunities for advancing fundamental understanding
of child development.

Funding for CRI is as follows:

(Millions of Dollars)

FY 2001
Estimate

FY 2002
Estimate

FY 2003
Estimate

FY 2004
Estimate

FY 2005
Estimate

$4.99

$5.00

$5.00

$5.00

$5.00

Strategic Goals and NSF Budget Structure

The following table provides FY 2002 funding for strategic
goals and budget accounts.

NSF by Strategic Goal and Account

(Millions of Dollars)

FY 2002 Request

NSF Accounts

FY 2000 Actual

FY 2001 Current Plan

People

Ideas

Tools

A&M

FY 2002 Request

$ Change Request over Plan

% Change Request over Plan

FY 2000 Actual

$3,923.36

$816.11

$1,962.49

$955.44

$189.32

FY 2001 Current Plan

$4,416.39

$888.31

$2,251.11

$1,060.95

$216.03

BIO1

418.29

485.42

48.55

364.73

64.16

5.67

483.11

-2.31

-0.5%

CISE

388.57

477.90

56.93

288.09

117.62

7.72

470.36

-7.54

-1.6%

ENG

379.82

430.84

69.45

351.67

2.80

7.13

431.05

0.21

0.0%

GEO

487.64

562.19

19.40

318.89

217.28

2.97

558.54

-3.65

-0.6%

MPS

755.88

850.84

97.55

538.02

221.59

6.42

863.58

12.74

1.5%

SBE

162.11

164.44

10.41

120.17

28.03

4.55

163.16

-1.28

-0.8%

OPP

258.33

273.26

3.50

72.41

197.31

3.35

276.57

3.31

1.2%

IA

129.25

97.75

0.00

26.61

54.00

0.00

80.61

-17.14

-17.5%

Research & Related Activities

$2,979.90

$3,342.63

$305.79

$2,080.59

$902.79

$37.81

$3,326.98

-$15.66

-0.5%

Education & Human Resources1

$683.58

$785.62

$696.40

$139.25

$24.60

$12.16

$872.41

$86.79

11.0%

Major Research Equipment

$105.00

$121.33

$0.00

$0.00

$96.30

$0.00

$96.30

-$25.03

-20.6%

Salaries & Expenses

$149.28

$160.54

$0.00

$0.00

$0.00

$170.04

$170.04

$9.50

5.9%

Office of Inspector General

$5.60

$6.27

$0.00

$0.00

$0.00

$6.76

$6.76

$0.49

7.8%

Total, National Science Foundation

$3,923.36

$4,416.39

$1,002.19

$2,219.84

$1,023.69

$226.77

$4,472.49

$56.09

1.3%

H-1B Visa

$25.06

$121.00

$144.00

$144.00

$23.00

19.0%

Total NSF, Including
H-1B

$3,948.42

$4,537.39

$1,146.19

$2,219.84

$1,023.69

$226.77

$4,616.49

$79.09

1.7%

1 The agency routinely closes out awards that are past
the expiration date. Several awards, including $4 million in BIO and $1.84
million in EHR, were terminated in FY 2000 due to incorrect award expiration
dates. The expiration dates on these awards were corrected later in the
year and the awards were reopened and the balances restored. The closing
of the awards are reported as recoveries and the reopening of the awards
are accounted for as upward adjustments to prior year obligations. Therefore,
actual obligations for BIO are $418.29 million and for EHR are $683.58
million.